My Fall Wishlist!

Well, there’s no denying it- fall is just around the corner! Can you believe September is less than a week away? All of my friends went back to school in the past few weeks, and high schoolers start school next week. Even though I don’t “go” to school (I’m enrolled in courses through the Art Institute of Pittsburgh), when school rolls around it just feels like fall to me. And I honestly couldn’t be happier! This summer wasn’t much fun. Between the crappy Upstate New York weather, the stress of planning Julian’s first birthday party, and my grandfather passing away on the Fourth of July, I didn’t get to do anything that I really wanted to do. Money was too tight to take even a day trip, so the only water-park experience we had was on Juli’s birthday when we went to the Seneca Lake Park for their awesome Splash Grounds.

I recently bagged up 75% of my fall/winter clothes and donated them because they’re just sooo old. Most of it was stuff I’ve had for years. Things just naturally start smelling a little funky after a few years. Besides, I’m so bored with my “style”, or lack thereof, and I need something a little more grown up, polished, and pretty. There are a few items I’m really dying to buy like a great pair of riding boots, some funky leopard print flats, a comfy pair of tailored black pants for work, a super cozy cardigan for both work and weekends, and lots of stylish accessories. (Do I see some DIY projects in my future?)

I put together a moodboard of sorts to capture the things I’m looking for this fall. I’m hoping to visit my best friend Morgan in a few weeks at the University at Buffalo and buy some of these things at the Galleria Mall.



Navy Blue Chunky Cowl. Leopard Print Flats. Black Leather Riding Boots. DIY Gold Tube Bead Bracelets. Skinny Black Ankle Pants. Drape Front Cardigan.

They’re all classic items that could be worn dozens of ways, so splurging on one or two of them wouldn’t feel too bad. (Hopefully Morgan can get that through to me.) I’d love to find cheaper versions of the boots and the sweater, though so I’ll be keeping my eye out for similar things!

I’m also really excited to start buying fall clothes for Julian. I went to our Outlet mall a few weekends ago and picked up a lot of cute basics and play clothes for him with his birthday money, but I’m still looking for good deals on sweaters, jeans, and a fall jacket or vest. I popped over to Gap’s website to find that they’re having a Labor Day sale, and now I might just be adding some things to my cart because I can’t live without them.



Quilted Puffer Vest. V-Neck Elbow Patch Sweater. High Top Sneakers. Hiker High Top Sneakers. Dark Wash Loose Fit Jeans. Contrast Striped Beanie. V-Neck Cardigan. Long Sleeve V-Neck Tee. Pullover Sweatshirt.

I’m dying to buy the puffer vest- it’s on sale and I have $10 off and Julian has a gift card. I might have to take a trip to Destiny USA to see how much I really like it. It would be such a steal!! I’m loving the high top shoes, and we’re definitely in the market for shoes now that Julian is walking everywhere. The only issue is the width of the shoe- Julian has fat feet so we have to be careful with shoes! I can’t wait to start buying jeans and sweaters for him, because last winter he was so chubby that he was confined to sweatpants and knit shirts. We’re still going to have to get him the loosest pairs of jeans possible because he has the biggest thunder thighs I’ve ever seen on a 1 year old.

What’s on your fall shopping list? Are you due for a major wardrobe upgrade? If not, you can donate to my fund! More clothes for me!!

Ok, just kidding!

Favorite Fonts!

I'm always on the lookout for new fonts, and I started a Pinboard for all of the great fonts that I see from other bloggers and Pinners. That way, when I'm working on a project, I can go to my board and scroll through font snob heaven the fonts I've pinned, click through, and download! It's so much easier to download a few fonts as you need them than to have a lot that are pretty but that you might now ever use.

Once I download a font, I open up a Word document that I have saved to my computer and type the font name so that I know which ones I have already and what they look like. It's such an easy reference tool that I find myself looking at every time I open Illustrator.

So, because there are so many fonts that I admire, I thought maybe I could share some of them with you! These are some of the ones I use on a regular basis- some are fancy, some are simple, but all of them are fun and gorgeous! They're all great to have in your designer pocket.

English Essay.Odalisque.Lobster.Alexandria.Dawning of a new day.Ecuyer DAX.Riesling.Quicksand.

I just began a Typography class through my online school, and I'm loving it just as much as I thought I would. I've been sort of re-learning the things my high school graphic design teacher touched on, and I'm super psyched for our project! I can't wait to share the end result- I hope it goes the way I'm seeing it in my head. A piece I did as a final project for my most recently completed class didn't turn out the way I expected it to, and I worked really hard on it, so that was sort of disappointing. 

Have you ever experienced this? Have you started out on a project thinking/picturing it to be one way and then it didn't end up that way? There's no worse feeling than not being able to accomplish something, even though you put forth your greatest effort to do so.

I'm curious to know what your favorite fonts are! Are there any of my favorites that are yours, too?

Free Gatsby Soiree Printable!

Good morning! I spent some time last night fiddling around on the computer and pinning some new inspiration for new projects, and I came across a recent pin from Oh Happy Day's printable cocktail party invitations. Everyone loves a free printable! So, I made this Great Gatsby themed birthday soiree printable for you to use to invite to your next party! You could base the whole party on this art-deco theme, and even have your guests come in their most dapper dressings!

Simply print the invitations, fill in the information and give them out to your guests- they should fit in an envelope for 4x6 invitations, which can be found at your local craft store, or even Staples.

Materials:
White, cardstock paper (8 1/2x11)
This downloaded PDF file (A new page will open- click the "Download" button in the upper right hand corner- I promise it's safe!)

Steps:

1. Download the file.
2. Open it up on your computer.
3. Print it out on the cardstock paper.
4. Cut the invitations out.
5. Fill in the party information.
6. Send them out.
7. Host a fabulous party!

It's so easy! You could throw something together in no time with these printables, and they're perfect for a small get-together. if you wanted to make the invitations a little glitzier, you could easily add some glitter glue and trace along a few of the gold scallops to make them really pop.

Mediocrity: Can I Beat It?

 

 

I spent this beautiful, beautiful day at a private lodge in the middle of nowhere, at a place called Frozen Ocean, with the greatest coworkers ever! I drank too many mixtures of Coconut Parrot Bay and Coke, and ate too many snacks. I didn’t dance or laugh enough, though. The picture above really has nothing to do with this post other than it being the view off the back porch of the cabin we were at. Gorgeous!!

I’ll warn you: this post is the product of a few drinks that are wearing off, a tired body, a tired mind, and a tired heart. I’m feeling a little sad and a little bad for myself tonight. I think we all have this feeling, but it’s been coming too often lately for me, and I’m trying to have little victories within myself and take steps towards figuring this problem out, and I’ve just thought of another things causing it.

I love being able to add things to my “have done” list. I love having things to brag about and show off to people, as if they make me a more interesting person because of them or something. Lately I feel like I have so many ideas for projects, crafts, hobbies, skills I can learn-- and that’s besides the things I “have” to do like school, houskeeping, cooking, laundry, working… obligations. Because I put so much on my plate, I don’t have time to dedicate to every individual thing as much as I’d like. This leads to my version of mediocrity. I’m a beginner blogger with pretty much no readership. I like to think I have the ability to be a good blogger, but right now I’m mediocre. Same thing with my Etsy shop. I’m also a good art student, but I get tired of trying so hard when the students around me aren’t inspiring or talented, so it makes me slack. I’m a good friend, but I could be better if I wasn’t in such a rut. I’m a good employee but my mind is constantly split between the clouds and home. I keep getting moved up by chance at my work- is that all I am?

No, I don’t have to be mediocre.

I’m proposing a time out for something in my life- but what?! The things I have in my life right now are there because I like them, so how do I possibly cut something out. I’ll miss it too much! And the things I have to do just won’t get done and then we’ll be hungry/be stinky/be sick/live in a mess/never have a clean sippy cup or bottle/have bad grades/won’t have any electricity or internet! Oh my!

This is the part where you’re like ok… I just spent way too long reading this rant, and it doesn’t look like it gets better for this girl. And maybe you feel a little down now listening to my woes. For that I apologize. If you’re reading this, I obviously decided to go ahead and publish this post, although I seriously thought of doing otherwise.

Well, you’re right. I haven’t solved any problems during the course of this rant, and I don’t know if I ever will. I think I will always struggle with feeling like I’m not as good as I could or should be. I think I will always be seeking the next best thing, or a new hobby to take up so I can keep my brain active.

If you’re reading this and you feel like this sometimes, let me here you say I! What do you do to feel better about it? If it wasn’t so late I would practice some stitches on my new sewing machine, and if I wasn’t at a dead end with my Intro to Design project I would work on it. Instead I think I’ll go to sleep and rest this tired mind of mine.

Happy not-so-happy Friday, and may your Saturday be merry and not as busy as mine is going to be!

My Etsy Shop & Giveaway!

Besides having recently started this blog, I am also relatively new on Etsy, too! I started my shop, The Littlest Print Shop last month, and I won’t lie- I expected it to take off quicker than it has. I’ve scoured the internet and Pinterest for tips and advice on creating a super successful shop, and I feel like I’ve followed the steps as best as I can! I’ve put myself out there on all the social media platforms that I have, and even approached women that fall into my target audience, and offered them coupon codes- and nothing! Sometimes not even so much as an “Ok, thanks!”
Darn you Facebook messenger for allowing me to see that someone has seen my message and just doesn’t want to reply.
I even went the extra mile and had these super cute business cards printed, so I could hand them out to the women I know through work.
                
Ok, so I’ll stop whining now and get on to more about my shop! I’ve been creating my own invitations and announcements for awhile now (my first was an invitation to my graduation party, and I’m embarrassed that I thought they were the bees knees), and people are always commending me for my talent and saying how great my work is. With some prods and words of encouragement from a few people- namely my Aunt Jen on one or two occasions- I opened up shop. I have no real experience with photography, and especially not product photography. It’s pretty difficult to take interesting pictures of pieces of paper, so I established the signature style of having the wood of my kitchen table as the backgrounds to my products.

When it came to pricing my products, I looked at similar items on Etsy that were big sellers. For now I’m offering the actual, printed invitations, and not digital files, so that’s what I looked at prices of. I also checked out Shutterfly and Tinyprints to see what they charge per invitation/announcement/card. Once I had my price per card, I figured in the time it would take me to edit a customized piece, and tacked that on. I estimated the cost of adding envelopes, and then I had my price. To me, it seems extremely fair, considering I’m not charging for shipping! Since I’m also a newbie, I didn’t feel right about charging an arm and a leg for my items. If the price doesn’t seem right, or I find that I’m not actually making anything, once I start selling, then I can reevaluate.
So, with all this information, I’d love to hear from any Etsy sellers, or even freelancers or non-virtual shop owners! What am I doing right and what am I doing wrong, and am I just impatient?!
I’m itching for a sale- not for the money, but for the excitement of having my work “out there”.

Lucky for you guys, I’m giving away 20 FREE Invitations or Announcements of your choice from my shop! This offer excludes envelopes, but does include shipping to wherever you are, within the US. All you have to do is:

• Comment on this post saying “I Love Etsy”
• Tell me if you’ve ever purchased from Etsy and if so, what did you like about that experience?
• Your email address

Because I’m not sure how large my readership is right now, I’ll keep this giveaway open until there are 10 comments on it. Once there are 10 comments, I’ll randomly select a winner. The winner will then be emailed by me and we can talk about your order from there!
Feel free to check out my shop before you enter this giveaway!

Weekend Project Obsessions: Bar Carts

So, I wanted to get an idea for a weekly post, and I'm always looking for fun projects to tackle over the weekends, so I'll share my most recent Pinterest obsession: Bar Carts!

My love for bar carts really started a few months ago when I began watching Mad Men on Netflix (it only took me 2 months to finish every episode on Netflix- crazy much?), and noticed that there were bar carts and alcohol in almost every scene. I'm not a drinker (under 21 and not a fan of the taste), but I love the idea of having one, especially for parties or Friday night gatherings. Here are some inspirational pictures that I've collected via Pinterest:

Emily's distressed version from her house tour at The Everygirl.

The moment I fell in love with a bar cart was when I first saw this one from Danielle's blog, Breakfast at Toast!

A great mood board of sorts about stocking your basic bar cart from For Chic Sake.

This really basic and beautiful vintage bar cart refab is by Monica at Living in Vogue.

I love this closeup of Kristen's fun and sophisticated bar cart- especially the straws!

I've had my eye on a bar cart similar to Monica's bar cart at my local thrift store that I thought was way too worn to be turned into something that looked expensive and sophisticated. But when I saw her before picture, it made me think I could do it! Sometimes I forget how far some cans of spray paint can go... I might be stopping to pick mine up after work- I just hope it hasn't been scooped up before I get there!

I'm hoping to also take a trip to downtown Syracuse and check out Goodwill and Hobby Lobby for some retail therapy after a semi-stressful week. I've never been to either of those places, and after reading about so many projects that began with a good find at one of them I'm dying to see what all the fuss is about! Wish me luck!

Are there any furniture trends you're loving right now? Are you loving bar carts for their functionality or just their look, like I am?

Happy Friday!! Drink responsibly!

What Do I "Do"?

Being in the beginning stages of this blog, I'm finding that it's difficult to think of good, fun, interesting posts that people will want to read and that have some depth and meaning. I would like this blog to be a good combination of material things, like DIYs, crafts, and things, and bigger ideas and ramblings.

The idea for this blog post comes from the Blog Everyday in May challenge over at Story of My Life. It's the Day 6 prompt: "If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?" I thought this one would be great as a 'get to know me' post! So, without further ado, my response:

1. I mother. I'm a mother to the most gorgeous boy, and I can't even begin to describe the weight he has on my life. A good weight, like the kind of party you would throw that is both a burden and a joy. Julian wasn't expected and wasn't a blessing at first, but he has motivated me, more than anything in my life, to do what I love, and better myself so that he can have the best of what life has to offer.

My latest painting (Sorry for the bad quality!)

2. I create. Computer graphics, block prints, invitations, paintings, birth announcements... and what I haven't listed here I've either forgotten or haven't had the funds to create it yet. If you can make it, there is a large chance that I've either made it or thought about making it.

"The grandchildren" at Easter:
Gavin, Olivia, Me, Julian, Allie, Rachel and Nicholas at Easter

Recent Family photos with Dom's family

My two longtime best friends, Alejandro and Morgan

3. I love. My family, my baby, my handful of close friends and my boyfriend. Those are the people that I love more than anything. I am eternally grateful for my family and all that they have done/continue to do for me and Julian.

4. I shop. Too much... I don't always buy but I shop. On the internet, at Target, on Etsy, at AC Moore, and especially Old Navy. I love a good deal or coupon, and if I have $10 off? Well, then I have to shop! I'm always looking for housewares and baby products, and sometimes clothes, when I can convince myself that it wouldn't be a sin to buy something for myself.

5. I surf. No, not as in the ocean. The internet is my addiction. Pinterest is my addiction. I'm obsessed with new blogs, products, and ideas for my crafting [obsession]. While I'm slowly building my life up to my standards, I swoon over the lives of the people I find online and get ideas for what to buy or make that will make my life better. This could sound bad, but I look at it as being resourceful, a dreamer, and as someone who is always looking to get more out of life.

Those are five categories of things that I "do". Working almost full time, it's hard to think of anything but what I do there, but it was interesting to comb through my few wakeful hours during the day and pick out what else makes up my day.

You should check out the Blog Everyday in May challenge, whether you're a blogger or just a thinker!

DIY Block Printed Notepad

I was dabbling in some artsy things last night, and I decided to carve a new linoleum stamp and print some blank cards that I've had laying around in my craft stash. Block printing is something I'm fairly inexperienced with, but something I really love doing, and it's really one of the forms of art that I practice that actually make me feel like an artist. I consider myself a learning graphic designer, which is a genre of art that is usually created on a computer, and it's hard to feel "artsy" when you're not really getting your hands dirty, or having to clean up your workspace at the end of a project. (Cleaning brushes and tables, letting things dry, ect.) So, I do some block printing from time to time.

For Julian's first birthday, which was mustache themed, I carved a mustache stamp to possibly use for favors and decorations. Block printing isn't like buying a rubber stamp from AC Moore and a pretty ink pad, and stamping around on some paper. It's rolling out your oil based ink, rolling the ink on your hand-carved linoleum stamp, stamping it on your paper by hand, rubbing the stamp with a brayer, and peeling the stamp off and hoping it came out the way you wanted. And repeat. For every print. Because of this process, I didn't use the mustache stamp in the capacity that I would have liked to. But, I made this simple notepad out of some pieces of paper and some embroidery string last night/today that I'd like to share as my first project on the blog!

(I promise I'm done rambling for today)

Materials Needed:

• Linoleum square
• Linoleum carving tools 
• Brayer and Roller
• Ink (any color)
• Printing paper
• Scissors
• Embroidery thread (of any color)
• Embroidery needle
• Scrap paper

Some of those materials will make you turn around and chalk this up as another thing that's too involved for your taste, but it's really a quicker process that you think, and it doesn't have to be expensive. The materials you buy for block printing will last you forever if you treat them right and use them moderately. Lucky for me, I have an art teacher/friend that gave me some starter materials. Hi Mrs. Parkman!

First, you'll want to carve your linoleum into the shape of your choosing. Anything would work- a symbol, a logo (with some practice), your initials. There's a good tutorial on carving your linoleum here. It's pretty self explanatory though!

Once your block is done, you can test it out to see if you need to change it or carve deeper in any areas.

Then, you can cut your paper into the size that you want your notepad to be. I folded and cut my paper in half four times to get the size I made, and it's perfect for a little list! Once your paper is cut, print your design onto it wherever your heart desires, and then set each piece to dry. I let mine dry overnight, because even when it feels dry, the ink can still be really tacky.

I printed about 30 pieces for my notpad, but you can do any amount that you want. This would even be a good idea for a mini journal!

Once your pieces are dry, you can begin to assemble them!

I made a little template for poking the holes in the paper to bind the notepad, so that the holes would be easy to thread. Taking your piece of scrap paper (I used a long coupon I'll probably never use), fold it in half to create an edge to line your paper up on. Then mark where your holes will go (how far apart and how deep into the paper). I cut the top of the back of this scrap paper, so I'd be able to poke all the way through my pages to make the holes big enough. The front of my template looked like this:

Fancy, I know. This is the template with the first few pages in it, and opened up. See how I cute the back off, but kept enough to be able to line the pages up?

 Now it's time to poke some holes! Making sure all of your paper is lined up nicely, you can poke through the scrap paper and your first few pages, pulling the embroidery needle all the way through the pages.

You could probably cut your steps in half by pulling the thread and the needle through the pages and the scrap in this step, but I separated the steps so I could eliminate the possibility of messing my holes up and having to start over again with the threading part.

Once all of your pages have nice holes in them, you can go through again with the needle and thread.

I found as I went that it was best to group all the pages together, but pull the needle and thread through a few pages at a time. Pulling the thread through was a little more difficult than just the needle. This is where it comes in handy to have pre-poked holes, so you can be sure everything is aligned nicely.

I wish I had a more exciting color of thread on hand, but my pack of red got all tangled in my last project, so I only had white. It would be super cute in a neon pink or blue, or even red!

Once your pages are threaded together, you can pull it tightly and tie off each end and snip them down so they're not visible.

And then you have a nice little book or notepad! This is the most simple binding you could do, but with a bigger needle you could really get fancy with it and go back through to create a really secure binding. Since I might be tearing off these pages as I use them, I didn't want my paper to be too thick, or my binding to be too tight.

I hope you had a happy weekend! Hopefully we will start having some summer weather (gasp!) here in Central New York so I can actually do some summer activities (gasp!)!

It takes some trying to find out

I've "begun" this blogging things too many times and am about ready to chalk it up to a fail, but I'll give it one more try before I come to the conclusion that not all good writers & creatives can also have a successful blog. This is probably my... 3rd? attempt at a blog in the last year and a half. I begin feeling like I need it to help me through something, and then as I start to feel better on my own, I forget about it. Also, I'm obsessed with other people's blogs, and then feel like mine couldn't ever be as good, exciting, or worthy of being called a blog, compared to theirs. Yup, I have confidence issues.

So, here goes attempt number three. Or four. I don't know where it'll go, and I don't know how great it will be, but as with most things that are that way, it takes some trying to find out.